`

Thursday, May 18, 2017

BOMBSHELL – ROSMAH’S ROLE IN 1MDB THEFT EMERGING : SON RIZA’S LAWYERS MAKE DAMNING STATEMENTS THAT POINT FINGER AT ‘MOMMY DEAREST’

In his statement challenging the US Department Of Justice’s seizure of assets in his name,Riza Aziz, son of Rosmah Mansor and step-son of PM Najib says via his lawyers:Mr Aziz claimed ownership of the entities in his 2012 US tax return, and properly disclosed the transfer of funds ( $94,500,000.00 )from Aabar-BVI to Red Granite Capital Limited. Those funds, according to the Complaint, were reported as a gift under US tax law, and Mr Aziz, after discussion among his accountants and business manager, obtained a letter documenting the gift, signed by the CEO of Aabar (Mohamad Al- Husseiny).

“Nothing in the Complaint alleges that Mr Aziz …. knew that Aabar-BVI was unaffiliated with Aabar or IPIC”

Accepting the above statements, it follows that Riza Aziz honestly believed that he was being gifted some USD 95 million by , ultimately, the Abu Dhabi government , based on a personal relationship.

Al- Husseiny’s letter that Riza relies on states:

This letter is intended to confirm that the transfer of $94,500,000.00 which consisted of a wire transfer on June 18, 2012 to BSI Bank, Ltd. (account number [XXX]250A) for the benefit of Riza Aziz was intended as a gift. The transfer was made for no consideration and no services were performed or gift received for assets. This was a gratuitous transfer made with detached and disinterested generosity based on our close personal relationship.

The DOJ argues that Riza must have known that the transfer had nothing to do with the IPIC and the government of Abu Dhabi, but Riza insists otherwise.Taking him at his word, and given that the basis of that “gift” was a “personal relationship”, an alternative and one suspects unintended picture emerges; that the “gift” was granted if not instigated by Riza’s mother,Rosmah Mansor, who we have been told time and time again has close personal friendships in the Middle East.These are some of what has been reported in Malaysia:Rosmah uses Saudi prince’s RM7mil present for charityRosmah seeks assistance of Egyptian president’s wife to free M’sian student

Our students safely home thanks to FLOMAt this point is it important, indeed vital , to remember that Riza claims he received close to a hundred million as a gift from IPIC, a sovereign wealth fund(SWF).This is unlike the claim made by his step-father, PM Najib, who claims a “donation” of USD 681 million was given him by the Saudi King or some close relative, in a personal capacity. SWFs are not normally in the habit of making multi-million dollar gifts to private individuals out of love and affection, and in the case of IPIC, reporting obligations to the LSE would have made such generosity very highly unlikely.Be that as it may, accepting him at his word, it becomes clear that if the government of Abu Dhabi had a personal relationship, it was with Rosmah rather than Riza.

Consequently, it follows that if a gift was in fact granted by that government, it would have been to her, or at her instigation.However, at or around the time of this gift making, the Malaysian Government via 1MDB was making payments to Aabar and IPIC, of some USD 1 billion.As the Opposition MP Tony Pua explains it, these transactions resulted in significant losses to 1MDB.

Therefore, even if that USD 94.5 million was a gift from Aabar, it was extended during a time when Aabar and IPIC received over a billion from the Malaysian Government.If a “personal relationship” was the basis of that gift,then it is more likely than not that Rosmah’s “gift” was actually a bribe for what was clearly a very profitable series of transactions in IPIC’s favour, This is the conclusion one would reach based on Riza Aziz’s own statement of claim.

1MDB bears the ultimate cost of that bribe, and in that sense it is not different from theft.END